Just in time for the first semester at the city's universities, spotted lanternflies are swarming in big numbers.
“Down in the City of Pittsburgh, in Oakland and so forth, you can’t even step on the sidewalk without stepping on hundreds of them, thousands of them,” said Andy Amrhein of Evey True Value in Bethel Park.
He has been asked to help the universities get rid of the lanternflies.
On the Big K Morning Show, Amrhein said they're a nuisance because they excrete sap on sidewalks, vehicles and just about everything outdoors.
Besides home remedies, Amrhein says six months of testing at his business showed Pittsburgh-based company Bactronix has an effective product called Bactrobug, an organic insect killer.
Amrhein says the lanternflies arrival was expected but the timing and location are problematic. He's been asked to help rid the campuses of the nuisance.
Urban areas aren’t the only locations dealing with an infestation, many communities around southwestern Pennsylvania are also dealing with the pesky insect.